Via http://www.blackartists.org.uk/archives/918

Famous and not so popular African-American artists have actually exquisitely shared representations of historical and modern events and individuals, cultural point of views, and the experiences and struggles of minorities through their artwork. This short article highlights the essential work of Black artists who helped to bring African-American experiences into the elite art world. The art captures historic and contemporary experiences. Some art captures race and gender relations. Black Arts as a movement speaks directly to the needs and aspirations of Black America. The Black artist speaks with the spiritual and cultural requirements of Black individuals in their artistry.

African-American arts represent a cultural movement. It consists of lots of visual artists, efficiency artists, sculptors, writers, musicians, and more. The specialists of Black arts are inspired by a desire to face white power structures and assert an African American cultural identity. Witchcrafts intend to serve the community and artists.

Yet, there are things we many never know about him. There are rumors that this man has more passports than Jason Bourne. It is believed he will live forever because of a Santeria ritual that took place in Harvard Hall. Why should a man help plan a Folk Life Festival when he is already the folk?

And so this is where we begin because there are no endings. James Early has retired from the Smithsonian Institution. What does this mean?  Are there only 10 minutes left, like the name of a show he once hosted on WHUR-FM?

Do Morehouse men ever really truly retire or do they simply continue to work after work? Consider Benjamin Mays, Lerone Bennett or the King himself. For James, it seems his days always consisted of another nation to visit, another conference to address, and no rest for the activist traveler.

But the Early life has always been filled with music and laughter – late into the night. He has always been surrounded by friends, his wife and his boys. If you pass his home on 13th Street, the frontyard seem protected by spirits from the Gullah or ancestors from an ancient time or maybe simply a page from a Henry Dumas story. If there is a lull in traffic one might just hear the ghost of Mongo Santamaria playing those drums as if 13th Street was some kind of crossroads and perhaps even Marion Barry could find a way back to the living.

From the Center for Folklife and Cutltural Heritage, the Anacostia Museum, the National Endowment for the Humanities, TransAfrica, IPS and Howard University, from places near to places far, there is that river Vincent Harding often talked about; that river forever moving and changing, and what Baraka might in his terribleness called the changing same. What we knew in the past is what we know now -today – James Counts Early is our bright and shinning star. For years we looked to him for direction, insight and knowledge. He has guided us out of darkness so that like DuBois we might see the dawn, like Mandela our feet will know that long walk to freedom.

Or as June Jordan would write – James – “let us turn the face of history to your face.” We thank you with the words written inside our hearts. We thank you with our love now made visible by your strength, by your dedication and service not just to an institution but to life itself.

Which brings me to my final comment before I introduce Bernice Reagon, the woman whose voice made me understand that the ear was an organ made for love.

If you get a chance, search the Internet until you find a photograph of James Early, Amiri Baraka and myself walking across the Howard University campus. It is James, on the left doing all the talking. The picture is important because it documents that James Early walks with the poets. It was his love for Sterling Brown that made Brown the poet laureate of Washington, D.C.  It has been our friendship that has often pulled me out of my own despair.

So, I conclude my remarks by reciting the words from the poet all poets love.
Here is Neruda’s Sonnet 27.  This is a poem I think everyone in this room would dedicate to you – dear James. It captures what you mean to us…

I love you without knowing how or when
or from where
I love you simply without problems or pride
I love you in this way because I don’t know
Any other way of loving
But this, in which there is no I or you
So intimate that your hand upon my chest
Is my hand
So intimate that when I fall asleep
It is your eyes that close

What I like about this poem is how it embraces the mystery of love. In the poem love is to be found in humility. Love in this poem is intimacy and oneness. In Neruda’s work this type of love embraces not just man and woman, it also represents one’s love of land, life and country. It represents a love for the people.

This is what you have always given us James Early. This is why we praise you today and tomorrow.

Black artists emphasize racial pride, an appreciation of African heritage, and a dedication to produce works that reflect the culture and experiences of black people. In each era, occasions of the day galvanize black artists to develop, arrange, and transform the world.

Via http://newbooksnetwork.com/daina-ramey-berry-the-price-for-their-pound-of-flesh-the-value-of-the-enslaved-from-womb-to-grave-in-the-building-of-a-nation-beacon-press-2017/

This post highlights the pivotal work of Black artists who assisted to bring African-American experiences into the elite art world. Black Arts as a motion speaks directly to the requirements and goals of Black America. The Black artist speaks to the cultural and spiritual requirements of Black individuals in their artistry.

The specialists of Black arts are motivated by a desire to challenge white power structures and assert an African American cultural identity. Black arts intend to serve the neighborhood and artists.

A profoundly humane look at an inhumane institution, The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation (Beacon Press, 2017) will have a major impact how we…

Black artists stress racial pride, a gratitude of African heritage, and a dedication to produce works that show the culture and experiences of black people. In each period, events of the day galvanize black artists to produce, organize, and change the world.

Via https://rediscovering-black-history.blogs.archives.gov/2017/02/14/black-history-month-2017-blogs-related-to-the-post-reconstruction-era/

This post highlights the critical work of Black artists who helped to bring African-American experiences into the elite art world. Black Arts as a movement speaks straight to the requirements and aspirations of Black America. The Black artist speaks to the spiritual and cultural requirements of Black individuals in their artistry.

African-American arts represent a cultural movement. It includes many visual artists, efficiency artists, sculptors, authors, artists, and more. The professionals of Black arts are encouraged by a desire to confront white power structures and assert an African American cultural identity. Witchcrafts aim to serve the community and artists.

Happy Black History Month! This year the Rediscovering Black History blog at the National Archives would like to highlight select posts from the past. This public blog was created to inform researchers, scholars, students, and anyone interested in records related to African-American history at the National Archives and Presidential Libraries on the vast amount of textual, electronic, photographs, and special media available for use. For the past four years, NARA employees, student interns, and independent researchers have written informative and insightful blogs on the black experience through the use of our holdings. The highlighted blog posts for the month of February will center around popular themes. Today’s theme is the Post-Reconstruction Era.

The Post-Reconstruction Era refers to the period between the Compromise of 1877 and the early twentieth century, when African Americans faced widespread disenfranchisement, legal discrimination, anti-black violence, and lynching. Historian Rayford Logan coined this era as the Nadir, which he described as the lowest point of racial relations in US history. Selected blogs in this topic relate to lynching, protest, and the image of African Americans.

• “Freedmen’s Bureau Transportation Records: Letters of “Sold” Former Slaves Seeking to Rejoin Loved Ones” by Damani Davis
• “Lynching of Women in the United States Blog Series Part 1: The Lynching of Sisters Eula and Ella Charles” by Trichita M. Chestnut
• “Lynching of Women in the United States Blog Series: The Lynching of Belle Hathaway” by Trichita M. Chestnut
• “Celebrating the Faithful Colored Mammies of the South” by Lopez Matthews
• “Ida B. Wells-Barnett Take Crusade Against Racial Violence to the President” by Trichita M. Chestnut
• “When the Government Can’t Help” by Netisha Currie

Black artists highlight racial pride, a gratitude of African heritage, and a commitment to produce works that reflect the culture and experiences of black individuals. In each period, occasions of the day galvanize black artists to create, arrange, and transform the world.